Launching the first annual Greener Package Awards during a recession may have been a risky proposition for organizer Greener Package (www.greenerpackage.com), the online sustainable-packaging knowledge exchange from the publisher of Packaging World. But the 51 entrants to this debut competition proved that where sustainable packaging is concerned, economics are no barrier to innovation. In fact, sustainability’s reach into major, mainstream brands over the past year and a half signals its use as a driver toward greater economic sustainability in the future.

The 10 winners of the 2009 Greener Package Awards—including eight winners in the Greener Package category, one in the Clean Manufacturing category, and one in Retail Leadership—represent the best practices in sustainable packaging from a range of industries, including food, pharmaceutical, personal care, and household care.

Critical to the credibility of the awards program, the Greener Package Expert Network—comprising packaging experts from across the value chain—designed the competition with categories and criteria specifically and uniquely suited to packaging sustainability. Members of the network also judged the 51 entrants in the first annual competition. Among this year’s judges were the following: